Detectives were searching for clues today to the murder of an unidentified woman whose dismembered torso was found inside a suitcase dumped in a canal.

A murder hunt was launched after children playing by Regents Canal in north London on Saturday afternoon spotted the case in the water, opened it and discovered what appeared to be a body part.

A post-mortem examination failed to reveal the cause of death but established the woman was Afro-Caribbean, aged between 18 to 30, and had been dead for at least two days. Officers are appealing for anyone who saw the suitcase being thrown into the canal last week to come forward.